Microsoft Touts Windows Phone Successes in Latin America

Citing data from IDC's most recent Mobile Phone Tracker Report, Microsoft this week touted the success of its Windows Phone platform in Latin America. According to IDC, Windows Phone is the second most widely used smartphone platform in the region, ahead of iPhone, with over 25 percent market share in at least one country.

Worldwide, of course, Windows Phone market share remains small, at about 4 percent. But the trends are all positive: With Apple's once-dominant iPhone stumbling quarter after quarter and falling in the ranks, Windows Phone has consistently racked up the biggest growth. And although it is a distant third place worldwide, behind Android and iPhone, Windows Phone has indeed established itself as the third smartphone ecosystem.

"Windows Phone is the second most widely used operating system in the Latin American region," Microsoft notes. "Windows Phone has been ranked second in Mexico for the second consecutive quarter, and in the second quarter of 2013, Windows Phone was also ranked second in both Colombia and Peru. In other countries, such as Argentina, Chile, and Brazil, Microsoft’s mobile platform has also grown in popularity, ranking third in the second quarter of 2013."

Microsoft also revealed that it had set a goal internally to achieve this number-two position in Latin America by the end of 2013 and that by doing so half a year early, it realized its goal months ahead of schedule. "We will continue working alongside Nokia to offer more and more people in Latin America the holistic experience which Windows Phone has for them," Windows Phone Director Liliana González added, "in order to offer a more personalized smartphone which is the best for the Windows environment and the best hardware for people and companies"

And Latin America isn't the only region in which Windows Phone is beating the iPhone. You might recall that Microsoft in March noted that Windows Phone was outselling BlackBerry in 26 markets and iPhone in 7; since then, the platform has of course surpassed BlackBerry overall, but it's still news that Windows Phone outsold iPhone in Argentina, India, Poland, Russia, South Africa, and the Ukraine.